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Canadian National

CN Locomotive Engineers’ Strike to End Immediately

MONTREAL — The strike by locomotive engineers at CN will end immediately as a result of an agreement to resolve the parties’ contractual disagreements through further negotiations and, if necessary, binding arbitration. The union began its strike Nov. 28. E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, said: “CN is pleased that an agreement has been reached to end the strike by the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) immediately and to move forward with a process that gives the parties flexibility to negotiate issues further, but also ensures finality through binding arbitration of issues that remain in dispute. We have

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Canadian National

CN Makes New Offer to Union in Canada

MONTREAL — CN has made a new offer to the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC), hoping the effort will break the impasse and end a strike. CN said it has not seen substantive movement by the union to end the locomotive engineers’ strike that started Nov. 28, 2009. “Unfortunately, the union persists in raising the same issues the parties have negotiated for 14 months,” the railroad said in a statement. In a good faith effort to reach a settlement, CN is offering to: — Agree to binding arbitration on wage and benefit issues — Roll-back the 4,300-mile monthly cap for

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Canadian National

CN Engineers in Canada Striking

MONTREAL –CN engineers in Canada started striking after negotiations between the railroad and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) ended Nov. 27 without an agreement on a new labor contract. Locomotive engineers will remain on the job in the following CN territories because of separate collective agreements: northern Alberta, parts of northern and eastern Ontario, northern Quebec, and parts of eastern Quebec and New Brunswick, the railroad previously said. On Nov. 23, CN notified the TCRC of its intention to implement only one work rule change to the collective agreements and increase wages by 1.5 percent effective Nov. 28. CN

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Canadian National

Talks Between CN, Engineers’ Union Break Off

MONTREAL — Negotiations between CN and the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) ended this evening, Nov. 27, with no agreement on a new labour contract, the railroad said. CN and the TCRC had resumed negotiations earlier in the day with the assistance of federal mediators in an attempt to reach a settlement. CN now expects the TCRC to strike the company’s Canadian operations. CN said a TCRC strike is particularly unfortunate because CN has repeatedly offered, and the union has refused, to submit the contract disagreements to binding arbitration in order to avoid a labour disruption. In a news release,

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Canadian National

CN Receives Strike Notice

MONTREAL — CN on Nov. 25 received a 72-hour strike notice from the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) of its plan to strike the company at 1 a.m. on Nov. 28. CN said the TCRC’s decision is unfortunate because a strike is in no one’s interest – not the locomotive engineers, CN’s other employees, its customers or the Canadian economy. CN is urging the TCRC to resume negotiations immediately to reach a settlement. If that is not possible, CN believes the union should agree to submit issues in dispute to binding arbitration before the Nov. 28 strike deadline. Such an

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Canadian National

CN to Implement Wage increase and Aligned Mileage Caps for Locomotive Engineers in Canada

MONTREAL — CN gave the Teamsters Canada Rail Conference (TCRC) notice of its plan to increase wage rates and apply a change to the mileage caps for the company’s locomotive engineers the union represents in Canada on CN. CN is taking the step after collective bargaining with the TCRC ended Nov. 20 without a settlement, the railroad said. The contract changes are to take effect 0001 hours Nov. 28. The TCRC’s current labor agreement with CN expired Dec. 31, 2008. CN had informed the union over the weekend of its intention to increase the engineers’ wages by 1.5 percent and

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Canadian National

CN Reaches 20th Voluntary Mitigation Agreement

CHICAGO — CN announced a voluntary mitigation agreement (VMA) related to its acquisition of the principal lines of the former Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJ&E) with the Village of Lake Zurich, Ill., located 37 miles northwest of downtown Chicago. With this agreement, CN has VMAs with 20 municipalities that are home to two-thirds of the population living along the EJ&E in Illinois and Indiana. CN’s latest VMA will provide funding for a range of environmental measures, including rail noise mitigation, maintenance of an existing quiet zone, emergency response training, safety initiatives, and improved communication. CN completed its EJ&E

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Canadian National

CN EVP-Sales and Marketing Leaving Railroad

MONTREAL — CN announced that James M. Foote, CN executive vice-president, Sales and Marketing has decided to leave the Company after 14 years at CN. “Jim has been a key player at CN since the Company’s privatization,” E. Hunter Harrison, president and chief executive officer, said. “Since 2000, Jim has been responsible for the strategic direction and leadership of the Company’s Sales and Marketing group and made tremendous contributions to CN over the years.” Jean-Jacques Ruest, CN senior vice-president, Marketing and Stan Jablonski, CN senior vice-president, Sales, as well as the Sales and Marketing organization as a whole, will report

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Canadian National

Berkshire Hathaway to Buy BNSF

FORT WORTH, Texas — The boards of directors of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. announced a definitive agreement for Berkshire Hathaway to acquire for $100 per share in cash and stock the remaining 77.4 percent of outstanding BNI shares not currently owned to increase its holdings to 100 percent. Based on the number of outstanding BNI shares — including shares currently owned by Berkshire — on Nov. 2, the transaction is valued at approximately $44 billion, including $10 billion of outstanding BNSF debt, making it the largest acquisition in Berkshire Hathaway history.

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Canadian National

Genesee & Wyoming Reports Q3 2009 Results

GREENWICH, Conn. — Genesee & Wyoming Inc. reported net income in the third quarter of 2009 of $21.7 million, compared with net income of $21.2 million in the third quarter of 2008. GWI’s diluted earnings per share (EPS) in the third quarter of 2009 were $0.53 with 41.2 million weighted average shares outstanding, compared with diluted EPS of $0.58 with 36.6 million weighted average shares outstanding in the third quarter of 2008. GWI’s income from continuing operations in the third quarter of 2009 was $19.6 million, or $0.48 per diluted share, compared with income from continuing operations of $20.1 million,